Word: diller
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Diller, 51, is a tough, frequently rude, sometimes imperious executive. "He's the most confrontational man I know," says HBO chairman Michael Fuchs. "He is fearless. He will ask anybody anything." A micromanager, he is obsessed with everything from program budgets to office design. Fox staff members in Manhattan recall secretaries scurrying around before one Diller visit, trying to replace the red poinsettias with the white ones Diller prefers. His outbursts of temper are legendary. During an argument with Stephen Chao, the former head of production for Fox's owned stations (later fired by Murdoch for hiring a nude male...
...Diller seems mellower these days, his steely gaze softened more often by a gap-toothed smile. Still, there is the cool, peremptory air of a man who has experienced power, and likes it. He talks in precise, carefully judged sentences and demands the same in return. Interviews are interrupted by phone calls that give piquant glimpses of the fabled "killer Diller." (After hearing about some new, unwanted contract language: "Tell him if he does not remove it, he can take the agreement and flush it in the river. If this is a manipulation, nobody's playing...
...also drove employees slightly crazy with his mania for details. Chao recalls having to re-edit a promotional spot for the series Cops 15 times before Diller was satisfied. His combative style was stimulating to some, debilitating to others. "It's the yell-in-your-face school of management," says an ex-staffer. But for Diller, passionate argument is not just a matter of temperament; it is a management philosophy. "Arguing out of conviction and belief is positive to the creative process," he says. "Years ago I started to worry, How do you keep your instincts clean...
...Diller's fans -- of whom there are many, at least on the record -- attribute his success also to his business acumen and showman's instincts. "He is the least cynical man I know," says Peter Chernin, now head of Fox's film division. "He has antennae for the kind of cynicism that says, 'We don't like this, but the idiots out there will.' " Says Michael Ovitz, head of the Creative Artists Agency: "In this business there are good analytical, practical and creative minds, but very few who combine all three. Barry can read a balance sheet, read a script...
Murdoch was most impressed with Diller's attention to detail and tight hand on the purse strings. "He was a very conservative manager," says Murdoch. "He would arm-wrestle movie producers for months." But after Murdoch moved to Los Angeles and started taking a more active role in his entertainment company, Diller began to chafe. "I never really felt I worked for Rupert Murdoch," he says. "I made decisions as if I owned the place." A turning point came at a News Corp. board meeting in the summer of 1991, when Diller made some suggestions that seemed to be ignored...